Does Richard Hatch think he's on Pulau Tiga and he can bamboozle this jury like he did when he won? He sounds like he's nuts.

01-22-2006, 01:53 AM

Stargazer

It's a dumb defense anyway. It's his responsibility to pay his taxes. If he didn't have a document saying that the producers would pay his taxes for him, then I don't see how he'd have a leg to stand on. Even if for some bizarro reason they had told him that they'd pay it, they didn't, so it was his responsibility to pay them himself and then sue MB and company if he felt he'd been wronged. :shrug

PASADENA, California (AP) -- A defense lawyer for first "Survivor" winner Richard Hatch has attacked the very integrity of one of television's most enduring games.

Hatch, on trial for tax evasion in Providence, Rhode Island, caught fellow "Survivor" contestants cheating, lawyer Michael Minns said Friday. When Hatch told producers about it they made a deal to pay his taxes if he won the $1 million prize, he said.

Hatch supposedly caught some of his opponents trying to have friends sneak food to them at their tropical location.

CBS refused to comment on the charges Friday, and a spokesman for "Survivor" executive producer Mark Burnett -- who testified earlier at Hatch's trial -- said he would not comment while the trial was in progress.

"Survivor" has been a mainstay of CBS' lineup ever since it became a sensation in the summer of 2000 and, after "American Idol," is consistently television's most popular reality game. The 12th installment of the show, set in Panama, begins on CBS February 2.

It would be disturbing for television viewers if Hatch's charges were true, said Robert Thompson, director of the Center for the Study of Popular Television at Syracuse University. People want the game played by the rules.

And if such charges came out five years ago, it might have really hurt the show, he said.

Now, he's not so sure.

"I think most people consider the reality of reality TV as they do the reality of Santa Claus," Thompson said.

A poll conducted by The Associated Press and TV Guide last September found that 82 percent of Americans believe that reality shows are either "totally made up" or "mostly distorted."

Yet they watch them anyway. The fifth season debut of "American Idol" on Tuesday drew nearly 36 million viewers -- the most-watched entertainment show this TV season -- despite last year's charges that contest judge Paula Abdul had slept with a previous contestant (Fox concluded the charges were unsubstantiated).

Two of Hatch's first-season "Survivor" competitors disagreed sharply Friday with Hatch's assertion. "What friends could bring them food? There ain't no friends on the island," Rudy Boesch told the Internet site TMZ.com. Dr. Sean Kenniff told TMZ he "never witnessed any cheating" by anyone involved.

The heart of "Survivor" is putting real people in stressful situations and watching how they react to one another, Thompson said.

"I don't know if (viewers) care if they have the integrity that you would expect on a journalistic documentary," he said.

"Survivor" had one brush with security in 2003. An offshore bookie suspended betting that year on who the "Survivor" winner would be when he noticed a large number of people betting on contestant Sandra Diaz-Twine, the eventual winner.

The most recent "Survivor" edition, based in Guatemala, averaged 18.3 million viewers, placing it among Nielsen Media Research's 10 most popular shows of the year. The show leads off CBS' Thursday schedule, the most lucrative night of the week for advertising revenue.

The revelation from Hatch's lawyer came during a break in Hatch's testimony on Friday. He told U.S. District Judge Ernest Torres that Hatch would testify about the deal. Hatch had been on the stand defending himself against charges that he failed to pay taxes on his "Survivor" winnings.

Minns did not return to the allegations when he questioned Hatch later in the day in front of jurors. It was not immediately clear whether the judge had excluded questioning about the topic. Prosecutors started to question Hatch Friday afternoon and plan to resume Monday.

Hatch is also accused of failing to pay taxes on hundreds of thousands of dollars of other income and using money donated to a charity on himself.

On Friday, Hatch spoke about how the behavioral problems of his son, Christopher, have weighed on him. Minns has said Hatch was distracted by problems with his son and was a terrible bookkeeper, but he never meant to commit tax fraud.

I really don't care if there was sneaking of food that first season anyway. I remember when it's popularity skyrocketed and JP and MB where saying they had such a hard time getting any network to buy or air the show or the idea, the show almost never happened. They were just hoping it wouldn't get cancelled before the season ended.

They supposedly agreed to pay $360,000 in taxes for a show they didn't even know at that point would make it through (and past) the first season? They knew Rich was the winner long before the first episode even aired. If there really was such a deal in place, they'd have paid his taxes once they saw how popular it was (and before the finale) because they knew they'd make back 1000 times that amount of money or more

I'd sooner believe Hatch found out and tried to blackmail them for a price to keep his mouth shut once the show really took off, and they didn't go for it. Was Hatch hoping they'd pay anything to aviod the appearance of impropriety once he knew the show was such a money maker? He's just slinging mud in desperation to save his own fat, sorry a$$.

PROVIDENCE -- Richard Hatch acknowledges that he used money donated to his charity Horizon Bound to pay for personal expenses -- including tips for his limo driver and workmen. Hatch said improvements he made to his property were for his charity.

On cross-examination in his tax evasion and fraud trial Monday, Hatch said he lengthened and widened his driveway to accommodate a bus in anticipation of launching camping trips for teenagers from his home. He said he leveled a portion of land so tents could be set up there -- and he said he added two extra bedrooms and a bathroom to the house to be used by the charity.

He sold the house in 2002 for more than $862,000.

Hatch acknowledged that Horizon Bound never ran any trips. He also said he used money donated to Horizon Bound to pay for personal expenses -- but said it was because he had already put so much of his own money into the charity. Hatch is on the stand for the second day.

Prosecutor Lee Vilker also asked Hatch about income he made from a radio show in Boston in 2001, which Hatch never reported. Hatch said it was his error -- and not his accountant's -- that he never reported it.
Hatch is also accused of failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won on the first season of the hit CBS reality show

This trial is like watching a train wreck, quite interesting

01-24-2006, 05:09 PM

Maveno

Guilty.

5 year tax evasion sentence.. he'll serve 3 years and be released. While serving his time, he'll gain more weight. When he gets out.. everyone will pretty much have forgotten about him.

01-24-2006, 07:13 PM

my3boyz

He deserved much more than 5 years! I mean he was so arrogant about the whole thing. Then to spend the charity money. :ohno

01-24-2006, 07:23 PM

Maveno

Oh, I was just surmising the outcome my3boyz. The trail is still going on and we won't know the sentence for a while yet. Sorry if I confused you.

01-24-2006, 11:02 PM

my3boyz

Oh okay. I did a search on it and it said something about him pleading guilty to two charges on the 18th? So did the judge not accept that plea? Smoking gun has it on their site too.